I have to give some props to the women's basketball team for destroying 15-ranked Baylor at Hilton yesterday afternoon. I saw the game on FSN-MW, and this is yet another time I've seen the Twister Sisters knock off a team ranked higher than them (other time was Oklahoma that I saw).
Moving onto the men, I did not watch this game. A combination of factors kicked in. First, being that I didn't have ESPNU, and second being that my wife and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day last night instead of today. The dinner, and theatrical performance was probably more entertaining and fun to experience, than watching ISU lose by double digits, yet again.
The big story to me, is that Dendy is not back. That does not bode well, as he's stayed in South Carolina longer than expected. I normally wouldn't freak out, but reports were that he was going to join the team for this game, and obviously he didn't.
What lost us this game was shooting % and rebounding. When I'm looking at the stats, I see stuff like Brackins shooting 8 of his 19 shots in the game from beyond the arc. Gilstrap doing similar, shooting 5 of his 13 shots from beyond the arc. But what's even more disappointing to see, is that Brackins' and Gilstraps' shooting percentages were worse from 2 point range, than 3 point range. I don't know if that was defense, poor shot selection, or just an off shooting day. Brackins and Gilstrap need to shoot better than 27% and 25% from 2 point range.
I've heard a lot of people bitching about free throws. While the team isn't the greatest, this did not cost them the game last night. Some were saying they want this team to shoot 75% or higher. Well, shooting 75% would've meant making 4 more free throws. Clearly not the difference in the game.
The difference in the game was the 13-0 run KU put on from about 13:30 left until about 9:45 left in the game. That pretty much lost it for ISU.
ISU now comes home on Wednesday and plays a winnable game against Oklahoma State.